International human rights organization Amnesty International has announced that 2025 recorded the highest level of executions worldwide since 1981. During the past year, 2,707 people were executed in 17 countries.
The organization said the sharp rise documented in its report on the death penalty was driven by a small group of countries that have chosen to govern through intimidation, Panorama.am reports.
The number of executions recorded in 2025 was nearly double the figure for 2024. According to the report, executions in Saudi Arabia reached at least 356, with the punishment used extensively, particularly for drug-related crimes. In Kuwait, executions nearly tripled from six to 17, while in Egypt they rose from 13 to 23, in Singapore from nine to 17, and in the United States from 25 to 47.
Overall, the number of executions increased by 78 percent compared with the 1,518 cases recorded in 2024. Amnesty International also stressed that the global statistics for 2025 do not include the thousands of executions that, according to the organization, continued in China, which remains the world’s leading executioner.
“This alarming increase in executions is linked to a small and isolated group of states that are willing to carry out executions regardless of everything, defying the global trend toward abolition. Iran, Yemen, China, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Singapore and the United States — these few countries are using the death penalty as a tool of intimidation to suppress dissent and demonstrate the absolute power of state institutions over vulnerable and marginalized groups,” Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard said.
